Page 170 of Love Undiscovered
The ambulance arrives in a blur, followed by two police cruisers. We give the officers an abbreviated version of what happened and a description of Helen. I feel so inadequate, not knowing much more than that about her.
Next thing I know, Chance is getting strapped to a stretcher and loaded in the back of the rig. They won’t let me in the ambulance with Chance, so we run back to the car with renewed adrenaline and head to the hospital. One of the cruisers escorts us passed the traffic, I have to wonder if we would get this kind of attention if he wasn’t a detective.
“Fuck, Trevor,” Kat says. “I don’t know where the hell you popped out of, but you pretty much saved the day, my friend.”
“Thank you, Trevor,” I say. “Even if…” I choke on my words. “Regardless of what happens, you got us here and we found him. I will be grateful to you forever for that.”
“Anyone would have done the same,” Trevor says.
“I doubt that,” Lexie says with pride.
Oh yeah, she’s still so gone for him.
I hear a phone ding with a text. We all check ours to see whose it is. Kat holds a phone out to me.
“It’s Bauer’s,” she says.
I take the phone, unsure as to whether I want to check his text messages. There’s no lock on his phone so as soon as I swipe, the screen comes to life. The text is from his sister, Charlie. I open it.
Charlie: I sure as hell hope you went after her and groveled your little ass off.
I half laugh/half cry at the text.
Kat reads it over my shoulder.
“Oh God,” she says. “They don’t know any of this has happened. You need to call them, Rem.”
“I don’t think I can,” I whisper. “This is all my fault. God, Kat, if he dies, they will all hate me. It will ruin his family.”
She grabs my hand and squeezes it. “None of this is your fault. Helen is the one who did this, not you. His family will understand that. He’s not going to die. He’s a tough motherfucker. I mean, no doubt he’s going to be messed up. You can’t prevent that. But you can help to prepare them by letting them know what’s going on before the hospital does.”
She has a point.
I hit the button to call Charlie.
She answers after the first ring. “Shit, if you’re calling me this quickly it means you totally pussed out, didn’t you?”
“Charlie?” I ask, my voice barely a croak.
“Remi? Is that you?” she asks. “What’s wrong? Where’s Chance? Is everything okay?”
“No,” I say, then burst into tears. I can’t breathe. I can’t talk. All I can do is cry. Kat takes the phone from me and explains everything to Charlie. She says she’ll alert her family and they will meet us at the hospital.
I bury my face in my hands to hide my tears.
Please don’t die, Chance.
Please.
* * *
We get to the hospital, Trevor drops me and Kat off at the entrance while he and Lexie find a place to park.
We find the front desk and ask about Chance.
“Only immediate family is allowed any information. You are?” the nurse asks.
I freeze.
